Juventus are facing serious problems in midfield after Manuel Locatelli's injury, which is why the possibility of signing a free agent has been discussed more and more in recent days.
One of the names that has emerged as a potential solution is Marcelo Brozović, who is available as a free agent and could sign for a new club immediately.
However, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, a possible arrival of the Croatian midfielder in Turin is not that simple. The problem lies in the Serie A player registration rules.
JUVENTUS CAN MAKE TWO CHANGES
Under the rules, Juventus can make at most two changes to their registered squad list before January. Locatelli's injury theoretically allows the Bianconeri to make a change, but there is an important obstacle. Locatelli occupies the slot of a player developed in Italy, meaning he belongs to the "trained in Italy" category. Removing him from the list would therefore free up a place only for another player who meets the same requirement.
BROZOVIĆ CANNOT DIRECTLY REPLACE LOCATELLI
This is exactly where the problem with Brozović arises. Although the Croatian midfielder played in Italy for years and left a big mark in an Inter shirt, under the registration rules he does not belong to the same category as Locatelli. This means Juventus could not simply remove the injured captain from the list and register Brozović in his place. For the Croatian to be added to the squad list, Juventus would have to make an additional change and leave out a player who currently occupies the corresponding slot.
JUVENTUS MUST MAKE A TOUGH DECISION
The situation is therefore considerably more complicated for the Juventus management. Signing Brozović as a free agent is possible financially and administratively, but the club would have to decide carefully how to reorganise its list for the rest of the season. It is especially important that Juventus have a limited number of changes until January, so every move could affect the club's options in the coming months. Because of the large number of injured players, Luciano Spalletti needs new solutions in midfield, but at the same time the Bianconeri do not want to complicate the registration situation any further.
BROZOVIĆ STILL AN OPTION, BUT WITH COMPLICATIONS
Brozović's name has once again been linked with Juventus in recent days after the injuries in midfield. His advantage is that he is a free agent, knows Serie A and has already worked with Spalletti at Inter. Still, Gazzetta's information shows that any deal has an additional obstacle Juventus must resolve before a transfer could become concrete.
For now, there is no confirmation that Juventus have opened talks with Brozović or that a decision on signing him has been made.
Turin is weighing its options, and the registration rules could play an important role in the final decision.
